Native American Legends

Bear Spirits

A Winnebago (Hotcâk) Legend

After Earthmaker created this island on which we live, he created
all living things, man being the very last of these. The first and
foremost animal that Earthmaker created was a bear of pure white
color, whom he placed in the north. This is White Bear. The second
bear that he created was Red Bear, whom he placed in the west. Earthmaker
next created in the east a kind of grizzly bear Blue Bear, who was
the color of the sky, either blue, or as some say, gray. The last
bear created by Earthmaker was Black Bear, who was placed in the
south. These four kinds of bears were created as Island Weights
to help stop the incessant spinning of the primordial earth.

Spiritually, they were not only bears, but the four cardinal winds
as well. White Bear was chief over polar bears, Red Bear held hegemony
over the brown bears of earth, Blue Bear ruled over Grizzlies, and
Black Bear was chief of the terrestrial black bears.